It is post-national elections and residents of Diepkloof Zone 4 are still concerned about the current state of electricity in their area.
This is after casting votes with the hope that things will turn out to be better after the elections.
Mpheng Seetsi, a resident of Diepkloof Zone 4 is one of concerned residents affected by the rollout of load reduction by Eskom.
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Seetsi is currently living with a medical condition and relies on medication that is supposed to be stored in a refrigerator.
She explained how much load reduction is affecting her as she has to compromise her health by surviving on bread and sometimes using a gas stove to cook.
“Some of us are diabetic, we must eat well-cooked food but we can’t because of electricity. We only eat bread and drink tea just so we can take pills and sleep, it affects my health because if I am stressed sugar level become high,” said an angry Seetsi.
“Every day we have to endure the electricity issue, we are unaware of what the problem is because no one is communicating with us and updating us on times when we won’t be having electricity.
“We are asking Eskom to communicate with us, and tell us what the problem is, let us know if there is any maintenance that they are doing that is affecting electricity supply in our area.”
Seetsi and her neighbours say they are aware that the power utility is implementing load reduction but they feel it is unfair on them because it happens almost every day and sometimes twice in one day.
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They also complain about not being notified on time before the power outage which is a huge inconvenience for them.
With the unstable supply of electricity, residents can no longer afford to buy food in bulk because it is likely to get rotten before being used. They say purchasing small amounts of food is also costly because one must always have money.
In response, Amanda Qithi, the Eskom Gauteng Spokesperson encouraged residents to refrain from conducting illegal electricity-related acts to avoid energy losses from their respective feeders and overloading.
“Eskom will continue to implement load reduction in areas where transformers are at risk due to overloading to prevent failure of equipment,” said Qithi.
“There is no maintenance taking place, load reduction is a long-established process Eskom uses in specific areas where there is sufficient electricity available but transformers are in danger of overloading.
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“Load reduction is a proactive measure that Eskom uses to protect human life and equipment when it overloads.”
Johannes Mabokela, a pensioner also from Zone 4 expressed how the absence of electricity for hours affects his health as he depends on it for his breathing machine and some of his medication.
“We are asking Eskom to at least inform us on time and keep us in light should there be any changes about anything that affects our electricity supply,” said Mabokela.
